Sunday 9 March 2014

8 Tips for Macaron Success


I’ve had more than a few macaron fails over the years. They don’t rise, they bubble, the batter is too thin, too thick, they’re undercooked, overcooked, they’re not round, they spread too much, and the list goes on. I won’t lie. Macarons are hard. But, after many hours and many dollars wasted on less-than-perfect batches, I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks to help the frustrated macaron-maker do all they can to achieve macaron success. Having said that, you can do everything right and they still turn out wrong. The temperature of your kitchen, the humidity, the oven and the quality and age of the almond meal can all affect the way macarons cook, but don’t let that deter you! If you’ve all but given up on macarons, have a go at my macaron recipe, put these into practice and see if they bring some joy back to baking my favourite French treat.



1. Age your egg whites
This is an absolute must. I’ve read lots of recipes and blog posts from people who claim to not age their egg whites (or just microwave them instead) and still manage to produce beautiful macarons, but I’m convinced it simply can’t be done. Anything can look beautiful through an Instagram filter, but if you want smooth, silky, chewy, shiny macarons that look stunning in real life, not just on Facebook, you need to age your egg whites. (They need to dry out and thicken to give the meringue the thickness and lift it needs to support the almond paste.) Crack them into a bowl two or three days ahead of time, cover them with a paper towel if you’re paranoid about dust, and leave them on the bench top. They won’t turn gross, I promise. Egg white can be left at room temperature for weeks without any problems. The yolks, on the other hand, need to be refrigerated and used within 24 hours, so go and make yourself a crème brulee or some lemon butter and get back to those macarons in three days. You’ll thank me for it!


2. Pass your almond meal through a very fine sieve
Don't just use a regular ol' sieve.  The almond meal needs to be very fine, otherwise your batter won't be runny enough and your macarons will end up lumpy and grainy.  I don't actually use a sieve at all - I scrape my almond meal through a splatter guard that I sit flat over the top of a bowl.  I firmly rub my fingers over the almond meal in a circular motion against the splatter guard.  You'll see all the coarse husky bits that didn't make it into the sifted almond meal - I usually just tap these into the sink, but if you're super thrifty you can always save them and add them to a cake or muffin batter later.  If you absolutely have to use a regular sieve, blitz the almond meal in a food processor first - this will help break up the really coarse grains.


3. Use a high-quality stand mixer
I know this is bad news for anyone who wants to make macarons with their hand beaters, but hey – I’ve just given you an excuse to buy a KitchenAid! Unfortunately hand beaters and low-end stand mixers just don’t have the “grunt” needed to beat that meringue into submission. A KitchenAid or Kenwood Chef is the best, but as long as you have a high quality bench-top mixer, you should be fine. I hate to say it, but even the Thermomix doesn’t cut it in this instance. Anyone who knows me knows I rarely go a day without praising my Thermomix, I love it like part of the family, but when it comes to whipping macaron meringue, the speed-4-limit that comes with using the butterfly attachment means the meringue doesn’t quite stiffen up enough. I tried it once and ended up having to finish the job in my Kenwood. Having said that, macarons made with the Thermomix or cheaper mixers may still work, but they definitely won’t be what they could be if a higher powered mixer was used. You’ll find the batter will be thinner than it should be, your macarons will likely spread too far, and they will feel dry or hollow inside. These are still technically macarons, but you will get a better result by far with a KitchenAid or Kenwood Mixer.



4. Ensure the bowl of your mixer is very clean and very dry

Stainless steel is the best bowl to use with your mixer, although I’ve always used plastic as it’s all I’ve ever had and it’s been fine for me. You do, however, need to ensure there’s no oily residue on the bowl or whisk, otherwise it will upset the batter in the cooking process.



5. Be careful with colours
If you’re going to colour your macaron shells, you need to know when to add the food colouring, depending on what type you’re using. Powdered food colouring should be added to the almond meal/icing sugar mixture before the egg whites are incorporated. Liquid food colouring should be added to the caster sugar/water mixture as it heats up on the stove. Gel food colouring is the best type to use (as it has less water so is less likely to affect the consistency of the batter) and this should also be added at the sugar/water heating stage. It’s also important to only have one colour per batch. Don’t try and divide the batter in half right at the end and colour two separate lots – you will end up over-working your batter and it will be ruined. If you want to make shells in two different colours but don’t want to be stuck with 100 macarons (not that anyone would complain about that…) then make two half-batches separately to each other.



6. Don’t use cocoa in shells
Chocolate macarons are very popular, but cocoa and macaron batter don’t mix. The amount of cocoa required to tint your shells a nice “chocolatey brown” ends up adding too much oil to your batter and they will turn out soft and fudgy. You won’t get the crisp outer that macarons are famous for. You can add a very small amount of cocoa which will tint the shells a pale beige, but if you want them to look like chocolate, use food colouring and save the cocoa for the filling instead.



7. Don’t over-work your batter
I think this is where most people get stuck. It’s the scariest part of making macarons. Hundreds of macarons later and I still get nervous when it comes to working the batter. Under-worked batter will leave you with little mountain peaks on grainy macarons, and over-worked batter will cause them to spread too thinly, stop them from rising and will keep the foot from forming. There’s such a fine line between under and over-working the batter that it’s really hard to know when to stop. The best way I’ve found is to keep folding the batter onto itself until you can lift the spatula and a continuous ribbon of batter falls away. If the ribbon “breaks”, it probably needs to be worked a little more. The only way to know is with experience, so keep trying! You want it to wobble like jelly but be smooth enough to fill a well in the centre. When I think I’m getting close to the right consistency I usually put a small amount (enough for 3 or 4 shells) into my piping bag and pipe a couple of circles onto the baking paper. Wait 30 seconds, tap the bottom of the tray onto the bench, and if there’s still a little peak on top of the batter, you probably need to work it a tiny bit more. Remember, the batter will also be working itself in the piping bag as you pipe your shells, so it’s always better to be under than over. At the end of the day it’s an art, not a science, and only experience will tell you when the batter is ready to pipe.


8. Use a template
Using a template ensures all your macarons are uniform.  They look so much more beautiful when they're lined up perfectly matched with pairs the same size and shape.  Just slip your template underneath the baking paper and you're good to go.  Make your own on the computer or you can use mine.  Alternatively, trace your circles directly onto the baking paper by tracing around a circular object about 4cm in diameter.  Just make sure you turn the paper upside-down before piping.  No one wants pencil-flavoured macaron.


I hope these tips are helpful in your macaron endeavors, but really the best thing is to just keep trying!!! If something goes wrong, Google it and find out why! You’ll feel such a sense of accomplishment after baking your first (or second, or third, or fourth) successful batch of macarons, it’s definitely worth persevering!

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